FAO warns of food insecurity threat for 2.6 million Nigerians in 2024

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that about 2.6 million Nigerians in Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara States, as well as the FCT, could face a food crisis in the period of June to August 2024.

This was revealed by the FAO country representative, Dominique Kouacou, at the presentation of the latest Cadre Harmonise food security and early warning analysis on Friday in Abuja.

Kouacou was represented by Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, Assistant FAO Representative, Programme.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CH analysis covered 26 states and the FCT to assess the food security situation and make projections for the future.

He said that the current cycle occurred after an unusually lean season, which was affected by several shocks, such as persistent insecurity situations like insurgency and banditry.

He also mentioned other challenges such as natural conflicts, high costs of food and agricultural inputs due to high inflation, and severe dry spells in some states immediately after the onset of rains.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, said that the analysis was carried out and validated by highly skilled professionals of the CH analysis task force over the past two weeks.

The permanent secretary, who was represented by Mrs. Fausat Lawal, Director of Special Duties, said that the results of the cycle of Cadre Harmonise (CH) analysis came at a time when government at all levels was working hard to revitalise the nation’s economy.

He said that the challenges were formidable, but they were overcomeable, adding that several factors seemed to be undermining the ministry’s efforts.

“Some of the notable factors are the lingering negative impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and the Russia-Ukraine war, which is currently disrupting the food systems and increasing the prices of inputs and food.

“The removal of petroleum subsidies has further worsened this pressure, resulting in food inflation and increases in the consumer price index,’’ he said.

He said that environmental and human factors such as climate change, displacements due to insecurity, and seasonal flooding had all remained recurrent concerns.

Umakhihe said that the disruptions had implications for food consumption patterns and the high use of irreversible coping strategies among a sizable population in Nigeria.

He said the ministry remained committed to leading and supporting the CH process in Nigeria.

The permanent secretary added that before the end of 2024, the ministry would work to integrate all 36 resource-based states of the country into the CH analysis.